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Gugale, Bawane’s 594-run stand leaves Delhi struggling
MUMBAI: As Swapnil Gugale trudged his way down the staircase, a few minutes after his mammoth unbeaten 351 (5x6s, 37x4s), the Maharashtra skipper had already received
MUMBAI: As Swapnil Gugale trudged his way down the staircase, a few minutes after his mammoth unbeaten 351 (5x6s, 37x4s), the Maharashtra skipper had already received over 500 congratulatory messages.
Gugale and his teammate Ankit Bawane (258 not out) had shattered India’s long-standing highest ever partnership record of 577-run by Baroda’s Vijay Hazare and Gul Mohammad with a 594-run stand for the third wicket. Gugale and Bawane put up a dominating show after Delhi had reduced Maharashtra to 41 for two on the opening day on Thursday.
However, with just 30 runs away from equalling the world record stand of 624 runs by Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, Gugale decided to declare Maharashtra’s innings at 635 for two, leaving everyone amused. Delhi scored 21 in the last five overs of the day at stumps. “We were not aware of the records. The only record I knew was that of the highest partnership of 500-odd (577 in Ranji Trophy). We had a plan that we have to give them a few overs to play and we had a certain amount of time after which we had to declare. We had a plan in the morning itself that we have to score 620 odd runs and then give them no matter what the time is. Our target was achieved,” said Gugale.
With Delhi a bowler short on Day Two after Navdeep Saini pulled his stomach muscles after bowling just one ball in the day, the Maharashtra duo made the most of the weakened attack. Singles came at will. Twos were converted into threes and half-hearted efforts on the boundary line were signs of Delhi giving up on plans to get rid of Gugale and Bawane.
Gugale and Bawane played 83 overs on Friday and batted for almost the entire Day Two at the Wankhede Stadium. Delhi skipper Unmukt Chand tried every player in his playing XI, except wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and Mohit Sharma, to dismiss the duo, but none succeeded.
The flow in which Gugale and Bawane were batting, they felt they could have carried own. “Itna mazza aa raha tha batting karne mein, aisa lag he nahi raha tha hum aur 2 din tak out honge (We were enjoying batting so much that we didn’t feel like we would get out for another two days). We didn’t play any risky shots,” said Bawane, whose innings was laced with 18 fours and two sixes.
Delhi’s coach KP Bhaskar lamented missed opportunities, but is confident of Delhi surpassing the mammoth first innings total. “I feel they are 50 runs short. If we manage to get some partnerships, we can chase it,” he told HT.
